


hanukkah scarletvision stories 2018-19

by SaintDracTheAlien



Series: hanukkah scarletvision stories because wanda maximoff is jewish [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Hanukkah, Jewish Steve Rogers, Jewish Wanda Maximoff, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sweet Vision (Marvel), but still cute af, click here for that sweet latke content, currently platonic, holiday fluff, this is fanfiction no one can take jewish characters away from me here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2019-09-07 00:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16843375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaintDracTheAlien/pseuds/SaintDracTheAlien
Summary: At first, the night is fun and casual, as Vision finds a silly solution to chopping onions and Wanda gives him a hard time over the wrapped gift hidden behind his back. But in all seriousness, Wanda is celebrating her first proper Hanukkah in more than a decade - and recognizing the occasion as an opportunity, Vision decides to give her a new way to keep an old tradition.I know most of you are probably in bed, scrolling through the scarletvision tag, looking for something short and sweet to read before you go to sleep. Well, welcome to the holiday specials!All of these stories will be set during Hanukkah, mainly as a nod to Wanda's comic canon but also as an attempt to make something new, interesting, and happily entertaining for readers who are sick of the same old Christmas oneshots.'latkes' & 'hanukkiahs' - Post-Ultron/Pre-Civil Warpart three coming soon - Post-Civil War, Pre-Infinity War(also, if you're here for nsfw content, you're going to be very disappointed - my scarletvision is 100% ase. check the tags and warnings for more story specific info and descriptions.)Featuring a guest appearance from Steve Rogers in Chapters 1-3.(takes about 20 minutes to read)





	1. chapter one - latkes

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [chopping onions](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/437677) by magistrate-of-mediocrity. 



> hey readers! the chapters in this story (and this entire series) will be very short and sweet, mostly because I'm trying to update every two days at the slowest. the holidays won't last forever and I'd rather spread my content really thin over the course of december rather than give a big update once every week or so and leave you guys hanging!
> 
> also: in preparation for these stories I spent several days online researching major Jewish holidays, especially Hanukkah, and asked a few Jewish friends for guidance during the writing process. I have tried my absolute best to be as authentic as possible in this story, despite my lack of experience, BUT if there's something you find to be an error or unrealistic, PLEASE leave a comment and we can make some edits together! good representation is my goal!
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Hanukkah Sameach!

“I haven’t done this in so long,” Wanda laughed, “I forgot how much the oil splatters.”

“Trust me, I know what you mean,” Steve chuckled in reply. “Never got burnt as a kid, but I definitely did my first year out of the ice.”

Wanda grinned again, shaking her head as she recalled, “Our father never let us get very close for that exact reason.”

“Neither did my mom,” Steve replied, smiling to himself at the memory. “Probably the only reason why I made it through so many Hanukkahs without oil burns.”

The sun had just begun to set when Wanda went to fetch Steve from his office, reminding him that the bag of potatoes purchased a day earlier wouldn’t peel themselves. 

They’d discovered their common faith a few months prior, when Wanda had nervously asked F.R.I.D.A.Y for help finding a synagogue. The Avengers had relocated from the tower only weeks prior, and while it may have been easier to find a place of worship in the city, the new compound was far removed from New York’s metropolis. Steve Rogers, however, had already sought an answer to an identical question - and F.R.I.D.A.Y was certainly intelligent enough to simply give her the same address and let the captain know that Wanda would be accompanying him to Rosh Hashanah services.

Together, the two had since brought other Jewish holidays to the team - and Steve Rogers was particularly glad to no longer be the only Avenger celebrating the end of the Yom Kippur fast with honey-dipped apples. 

And now, he wouldn’t be the only one lighting his Hannukiah, or staying up to watch the candlelight gently flicker.

Earlier that same afternoon, the Vision had been busily making preparations of his own - and he only interrupted himself after hearing the sound of kitchen conversation float down the hallway. It had prompted him to stand, a carefully wrapped parcel in hand, and begin making his way to source of the happy chatter.

When he reached the kitchen, he stood silently for a moment, smiling as he watched Wanda cheerfully begin slicing a heap of potatoes. Steve stood at the stove, carefully stirring a generous amount of oil around the two frying pans stationed on the frontmost burners.

“Am I late to the party?” Vision asked jokingly, alerting the two cooks to his presence.

“Vision!” Wanda greeted him excitedly, looking up from her work briefly. “You’re in luck, we’ve just gotten started.”

“Started with what, exactly?” he asked, not sure what kind of holiday treat the two were actually preparing.

“Latkes,” Steve answered, turning away from the stove and setting down a jug of oil on the countertop. “They’re like pancakes, but made out of potatoes and onions. And they’re crunchy instead of soft.”

“Like hashbrowns on steroids,” Wanda summed up, once again glancing up quickly to smile.

“Ah,” Vision replied, looking around at the ingredients once again. “You said you use onions?”

“Yup,” Steve confirmed, picking up one of several freshly peeled onions, “so while Wanda shreds the potatoes, I get to grate these into tiny pieces - which will be less than fun.”

“Except,” Wanda cut him off, “I usually ask Vision to cut the onions whenever I’m the one making dinner.”

“It’s true,” Vision remembered. “My eyes don’t water when I’m around cut onions, like yours do.”

“Wait, really?” Steve asked with a laugh. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“So, if you’d like, I’m sure Viz would do that for you while you get your weird seasoning experiment ready.”

“Weird seasoning experiment?” Vision asked curiously, and Steve shrugged.

“My mom used to make potato latkes with a bunch of stuff on top. So,” he gestured to a small mixing bowl sitting on the kitchen counter, “I’m trying to recreate whatever it was she did.”

“And since you last tried this, it’s been...how long, eighty years?”

“About that long, yeah.”

“Well,” Vision raised his eyebrows slightly, “good luck to you, Captain.”

Wanda laughed as Steve smiled, tilting his head sheepishly, and quietly replied, “Yes, thank you, I’ll need it.”

“And you’ll need the actual spices even more,” Wanda teased, still laughing. “Where did you leave them?”

“Um, that…” Steve began, looking around the ingredients on the table before swiveling to check the back counter as well, “...is an excellent question.”

“Were they with the rest of the groceries from yesterday?” Vision asked, thinking back on the trip Natasha and Wanda took to the store a day earlier.

“Yeah, they were.”

“You’d best ask Miss Romanoff then, I remember her being in charge of the cupboards.”

Steve stopped suddenly in his tracks, looking vaguely into the distance, then nodding in his own recollection.

“Yup, okay, Nat should know where it all is then. I will be right back,” he announced as he quickly wiped his hands on a loose dish towel, “but keep an eye on the oil so it doesn’t burn, alright?”

“There will be no smoking oil in this kitchen,” Wanda promised, not bothering to look up from the potatoes as Steve walked quickly out of the room and down the hallway, in search of Natasha Romanoff.


	2. chapter two - latkes

“You might not want to put that on the counter,” Wanda said as she turned to face the Vision. “It’s already a bit messy over here.”

“What?” Vision asked her, before remembering the package in his hands and looking down to see that he had accidentally been displaying it in full view.

“Yeah, that,” Wanda teased, “and it looks like you put some special effort into it, so don’t let our potato starch ruin the paper.”

“Right,” he agreed, and he walked the parcel over to an end table situated by one of the living room’s many armchairs. Vision set it down gently, aware that the contents inside were relatively fragile, and Wanda watched distractedly as he did so.

“What is it?” she asked him with a blank smile, continuing to diligently shred her potatoes.

“I can’t tell you that,” he replied simply, “it would ruin your surprise.”

“Wait - it’s for me?” Wanda realized, looking up at him quickly in surprise.

“Of course it’s for you,” Vision answered with a wide smile, amused by her astonishment. “Who else would it be for?”

“Umm…your good friend Steve Rogers.”

“Oh yes, dear Captain Rogers, he’s my greatest friend,” Vision couldn’t help but laugh at the joking grin on Wanda’s face. “Am I doing anything special with the onions?”

“Uh, no, not really,” Wanda turned back to the task at hand with a smile. “The only difference is that you grate them instead of cut them, like a cheese block.”

“Understood. Is this what you’re planning to use?” He held up a long, silver cheese grater, and Wanda nodded in confirmation.

With the bulky tower of peeled onions in front of him, Vision picked the first one up and smoothly sliced it in half with a large knife Steve had left on the cutting board. He took the halves and started running the cut side down the grater, watching flakes of onion fall out from underneath and onto the board.

“Perfect,” Wanda told him happily.

The two were silent and studious in their work for a few moments. Wanda eventually finished her task with the potatoes, the result being a giant metal bowl full of shreds. She reached over for a white kitchen cloth and gently shook it open before scooping a large handful of potatoes and squeezing tightly, draining the shreds.

A minute at the longest had passed before Vision paused and looked back up, a ridiculous idea having popped into his head.

“Wanda?”

“Viz?”

“I’ve had the strangest thought all of a sudden.”

“Go for it,” she replied simply, raising her eyebrows yet still not looking up from the dish of draining potatoes.

“Have you ever...tried wearing goggles while chopping onions?” Vision asked cautiously. “To keep your eyes from watering?”

Wanda immediately stops wringing out her packed kitchen cloth, glancing up quickly from the bowl. Her mouth has dropped open slightly, a look of surprised realization across her face.

“That has never occurred to me,” she answered after a brief pause of processing - “but I’m willing to bet that it would work.”

She suddenly sets down the draining shreds and snatches a dish towel from the opposite end of the counter, drying her hands as she rushes out of the kitchen. Vision sets down the onion slice still in his hand, his small smile growing as he realizes he should wait to grate the rest of the batch.

Wanda is sure to return with something they can use to test the theory.


	3. chapter three - latkes

“Natasha put them in the food storage,” approached Steve’s voice from down the hallway. “She said they wouldn’t fit in the spice cabinet, which I’m sure is bull-”

He stopped mid-sentence, absolutely caught off-guard by how much had transpired since he left the kitchen.

Wanda wore bright yellow swimming goggles with enormous rims, a large chopping knife in her hand. Just behind her shoulder stood the Vision, who donning an even larger pair of green safety glasses from the lab. In his hands was the bowl which held the onion halves, one of which Wanda had absolutely gone to town with on the cutting board. 

Both of them were obviously distracted by some joke, each laughing hard enough that they hardly noticed Steve had re-entered the room until he can find his voice again:

“Guys?” he asked loudly, and Wanda squealed in surprise, setting down the knife quickly and looking up at the sound.

“Steve!” she announced just as loudly, starting to giggle again immediately afterward. Vision set down the bowl beside her before straightening up, obviously hoping to pretend like nothing is out of place - but he can’t keep the ridiculous grin off of his face as he holds back a laugh.

“Hi,” Steve said, smiling confusedly. “What’s going on, huh?”

“Um,” Wanda began, but she hardly starts her explanation before each word is broken up by repressed snickers. “So - here’s the um, the thing - Vision,” she makes out before gesturing vaguely to the man behind her, “had this idea, right? About the onions making you cry?”

“Okay,” Steve followed, “let me guess: was it the goggles?”

“Yes,” Vision confirmed with a bit of difficulty, and Wanda nodded excitedly in agreement.

“And...how did that go?”

Wanda turned around to the back corner, the yellow goggles still covering her face, and gently picked up a large bowl nearly identical to the one holding the potatoes. She turned around to show Steve the end result of the experiment - a giant bounty of diced onion slices - and Vision finally laughs out loud when he sees the bizarre grin on her face.

“It works!” Wanda exclaimed, hardly able to say so without giggling again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you're following my hannukah series, you might have noticed that I changed the title of this story! it's just because I decided to split 'latkes' and 'hannukiahs' into separate works. 'latkes' will act as the first installment, and 'hannukiahs' will be the sequel! watch for it to be published in this same series soon - it will explain the gift vision had with him earlier!
> 
> thank you for reading!


	4. chapter four - hanukkiahs

From the tower in New York City, starlight was never visible in the nighttime sky. In the compound however, they were far enough away from the bright metropolis’ polluting lights that the dim, navy blue was transformed into a happy, shimmering blanket of stars. The surrounding forest towered around the perimeter of the estate, enclosing the area with shadows. Occasionally, there would be the sound of a bird calling, a plane passing overhead, maybe even a car passing by on the main road - but otherwise, the building was silent.

Silent, that was, save for the whispered conversations of the last two Avengers who had yet to fall asleep. After a long, cheerful evening of celebration and relaxed conversation, most of the compound’s occupants had finally retreated to their bedrooms and turned in for the night - but a solitary pair of night owls remained untouched by fatigue, sitting side-by-side at the window and watching the night shift and slip around them.

“We’re always the last ones up,” Wanda said, turning to face the man at her side. “You and I, for months now.”

Vision kept his gaze at the surrounding trees as he replied, “I’m afraid that if you ever actually go to bed before midnight, you’ll realize staying up with me is truly the duller option.”

Wanda rolled her eyes with a sarcastic smile as Vision bumped her shoulder playfully, “It’s a good point. What if I’ve been the true bother all along and you’ve simply not realized it?”

“Sleep is the problem, I promise,” she reassured him lightly. “You’re lucky I’m the only thing that keeps you from it.”

The two were quiet for a short moment, giving the stars some quick attention before Vision asked, “Did you have a happy first night of Hanukkah?”

“A very happy Hanukkah,” Wanda nodded in agreement. “We threw a good party, didn’t we?”

Vision was tapping his fingers gently against the package sat as his side, looking down at the dark blue paper and shiny silver ribbon. He’d slipped up twice while tying the bow, and it was a miracle that it hadn’t come magically undone in the hours which had passed.

“Yes you did,” Vision answered, “but I wish it wasn’t over so soon.”

“Hmm,” Wanda hummed happily before continuing: “As far as I’m concerned, it hasn’t ended quite yet.”

Vision smiled and stopped tapping his fingers, instead shifting his grip around the side of the box and slowly picking it up, holding it out between the two of them.

“In that case,” he replied cleverly, “you can probably still open this.”

“That - oh! I had completely forgotten!” Wanda exclaimed with a hush, looking up at Vision quickly in surprise.

“I wasn’t eager to give it to you in front of everyone else,” Vision explained sheepishly as Wanda gently took the present into her hands. “That is - I didn’t have something special for everyone, you see.”

“Completely understandable.”

“And look, now really was the time for it, it matches the sky!” Vision added, pointing out the window at the cheerful constellations set against their dark blue backdrop.

“You’re right!” Wanda laughed, looking back and forth from the night sky to her coordinating present. With a sigh, she continued, “Viz, you’ve wrapped it up so nicely, I can’t tear this open!”

Vision couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on Wanda’s face - she was pouting over ripping the paper, but her eyes still smiled brightly with excitement, and there was an undeniable blush in her cheeks.

“I think you probably can.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I definitely can,” Wanda agreed before sliding the ribbon off of the box. She held up the bow and considered it for a moment before gathering her hair up into a ponytail at the side of her face, sliding the loop of ribbon up to her fingers, and tightening it carefully.

She adjusted the bow briefly before turning back to the Vision. “Ta-da!” she laughed, “How do I look?”

Vision’s heart unexpectedly added a couple of extra beats as Wanda smiled so proudly at him. The sparkling silver ribbon was undoubtedly striking in her dark, wavy hair - but he couldn’t think of a casual way to say so.

_ You’re stunning,  _ is what he wanted to say.  _ Absolutely lovely. Every day, all the time. _

But of course, he didn’t - there may someday be a time and place to share the secret Vision was beginning to harbour, but this certainly wasn’t it. He would have to hope that his gift would speak in his place.

“Very sparkly,” is what he replied instead, his smile genuine but beginning to fracture. “You’ll be excited to match with what’s inside.”

“I will?” Wanda wondered as she started to tear at the taped edges of the wrapping paper.

“Very much so.”

“Did you stick one of those stars in this box?” she teased as the paper finally tore off. Wanda took the top of the box in her hand, slowly sliding it off. “How did you manage to keep it still while you - ”

Wanda’s next words were lost as she saw the surprise gift which had been waiting for her. She stared into the box, transfixed by its contents, her mouth open slightly in amazement.

“Did you - ” she began, “You - Vision, I...I had no idea - ”

The Vision watched her with a smile as she reached into the box and carefully lifted up the small, silver hanukkiah he had wrapped inside earlier that afternoon. It glistened in the moonlight, the beams reflecting off of the smooth, polished surface of each rounded candle holder. The shammash was centered on the menorah, with four candles in line on either side and each stem curving before attaching to the bell-shaped base. The bottom was decorated with three thin blue stripes - and above the top stripe, a sole six-pointed star, painted delicately in white.

“I know Captain Rogers already had one to light for the party,” Vision began to explain, gesturing to the hanukkiah, with its single glowing candle, in a nearby window, “but I thought you might need something special of your own for a change.”

“Where did you find it?” Wanda asked incredulously, admiring the menorah fondly.

“I accompanied Mr. Stark and a few of the others to a press event not long after we left the tower,” Vision recalled. “The Captain had told me that you went with him to Yom Kippur services in the city, and he pointed out the synagogue as we walked down the street.”

Wanda looked up briefly from her gift to nod, making sure Vision knew she was listening.

“On the next block, we passed by an antique shop with a large front window - and just inside, on display, was that hanukkiah. And it could have been that I was already thinking of you, but it struck me as something you’d like. When I went inside, I spoke with a woman about it, asking if she knew how old it was, that sort of thing...”

Vision paused briefly, giving his story a dramatic effect, and Wanda watched him eagerly.

“And she told me that it was made in Sokovia decades ago, sold to her just recently by the grandchild of an immigrant who was escaping Soviet rule. Right then, I knew - you had to be the one to care for it.”

Wanda was quiet for a moment, turning back to the hanukkiah and letting her eyes roam over every curve and detail - before looking back up at the Vision with happy, shining eyes.

“I can’t believe you did this for me,” she told him through her smile, her voice shaking just slightly. 

“You like it?”

“I love it,” she confirmed before turning back to the menorah. “I haven’t told anyone, but I’ve wanted one of my own for such a long time...this means so much to me, Viz.”

She carefully set the hanukkiah back in the box, sliding it gently from her lap and laying it down on a patch of moonlit floor. It sparkled back up at them both as Wanda turned back to Vision and quickly leaned into his side, tightly wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

Once Vision was enveloped in the hug, he happily lifted his own arms and held Wanda just as firmly above her waist. The feeling of her weight in his hands caused a wave of solace to flood through him, as it always did. The euphoria he felt whenever she was close was unique to any other experience he’d had. He wished he could memorize it and mentally keep it in store, ready to be retrieved in times of loneliness, frustration, or fear.

It frightened the Vision to admit, even to himself, what this sensation meant.

“Thank you, Vision,” Wanda whispered to him, close enough that he could feel her breath by his ear.

“You’re welcome, Wanda.”


End file.
